The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-05-21

From the Farmers Adrocdte.
The best butter makers in England, Ire
land and Jersey, as well as in this country,
are gradually dropping the practice of sea-
soning butter with salt, and are using brine
in its place Those who are far enough
along to appreciate the difference between
butter in lump and handling it in granules,
are in a position to adopt brine seasoning
with ease and decided benefit. All that
is necessary for such butter maker to do
is, when his butter has come, to wash in
the usual way with water till it will run of
clear, and then immerse the granules of
butter in brine as strong as it can be made,
and let the butter lie in it the same length
of time he would to have the salt dissolve
if he had used dry salt, and then press the
butter into solid form, avoiding any fric-
ton or grinding motion while reducing it
to solid In this way all working will
be avoided, and the butter left in the best
possible condition for keeping, and have an
even color and the highest flavor it is pos
sible for it to have. By laying in strong
brine few hours the brine will draw the
water out of the butter the same as dry salt
would.
Brine makes a more even distribution Of
the saline favor than dry salt can do, and
it will relieve the butter of any excess Of
water it may contain just as readily as salt
in crystals can, and put it in readiness for
packing in as little if not less time. 1t
is by some supposed that salt strikes into
butter better If dry salt is worked into it
than it would if covered with brine, but
this is misapprehension Of the action of
salt; neither salt nor brine strikes into
butter at ALL There is no affinity between
salt and butter or brine and butter. In
seasoning butter with either, the salt re-
mains in butter only as a foreign body me-
chemically mixed. 1t seasons only what it
touches in any case, and brine will touch
more of it than salt can 1t is not enough
to apply brine or salt and pack the butter
at once, for the reason that newly-churned
butter often (but not always contains more
water in its composition than is desirable
or safe for the welfare of the butter or that
of the consumer Salt will not go into the
butter after its water, but when close to it
tie salt will draw the water to itself, and
because it is more fully in contact with the
butter when in granules, salt will draw out
the water more effectually when in brine
than when in crystals.
Another advantage of seasoning with
brine is the certainty Of uniform seasoning
in different churnings. One would have
to take special pains to get one churning
salter than another when he seasons with
saturated brine, and he can do this without
weighingor measuring if he will keep little
excess Of salt in the brine, so that its
strength will not be reduced by the water
which it drains out Of the butter When
butter is gathered in the churn in granules
it is never overchurned. Pounding it after
it is in lump of large masses is what over
churns it. In seasoning with brine it is
never overworked, as it is not worked at
all. Working out buttermilk and working
in salt is where the overworking comes in.
In fact, working at all is oyerworking by
the improved method, none is needed, and
breaking the grain Of butter by grinding